The holidays are time for gatherings and warmth … and a little booze. This spiced punch can be served hot or cold. It’s a tasty way to welcome guests and stay warm.
Spiced Tea Holiday Punch
3 cups water
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tbs. vanilla extract
10 whole cloves
10 cardamom seeds
2 tbs. ginger
2 tea bags (black tea)
1 bottle red wine
1/4 cup dark rum
Boil water, honey, sugar, spices and vanilla in a large saucepan, stirring frequently until honey and sugar are dissolved.
Remove from heat and add tea bag, steeping for five minutes. Strain it into a bowl and add wine and rum.
Can be served hot or cold. If serving it hot, simmer mixture until warm again. If serving cold, chill mixture in refrigerator then serve over ice. Garnish with a cinnamon stick.
1 tsp brown sugar
1 part lemon juice
1 part Bacardi Oro
1 part Bacardi 151
1 part 42BELOW Passionfruit
1 part unsweetened pineapple juice
1 part fresh lime juice
1 part Passionfruit syrup
1 dash Angostura bitters
Dissolve sugar and lemon juice, then add all other ingredients and shake well with crushed ice. Pour entire contents into a Collins glass and garnish with lime wedge.
1 cup Zaya Rum
1 apple
2 teaspoons whole cloves
1 orange, thinly sliced
2 quarts apple cider
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon allspice
Pinch grated nutmeg
Cinnamon sticks, garnish
Stud the apple with the cloves. In a medium pot, combine the studded apple and remaining ingredients except the rum. Slowly bring to a simmer over low heat. Simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the Zaya rum. Discard the apple. Ladle into mugs and garnish each with a cinnamon stick and apple slice. Serve immediately.
It’s almost Halloween, so bring out the pumpkin cocktails! This one uses cachaca–a spirit similar to rum made from cane sugar.
Pumpkin Caipirinha
2 oz. Leblon cachaça
1 oz. Pumpkin spice syrup
1/4 oz. French vanilla syrup
½ oz. Frangelico
1 tbsp. Pumpkin puree
1 dash Orange juice
1 dash Nutmeg & Cinnamon
In a cocktail shaker, shake all ingredients vigorously with ice. Strain into a frosted cocktail glass. Garnish with a dash of nutmeg and cinnamon.
No Halloween festivity is complete without a pumpkin jack-o-lantern. This year, impress your friends by serving up this delightful rum punch right inside a pumpkin! Make it at home, bring it over, serve it up, it’s as easy as pumpkin pie. Nicaragua’s Flor de Cana rum is slow-aged and highly acclaimed for its flavor profile. Subtle hints of caramel and vanilla mesh perfectly with the fresh lemon juice, cloves and apple juice to make this drink that ultimate party punch.
Jack-o-Lantern Punch
2 oz. Flor De Caña 7-year Grand Reserve
4 sugar cubes
3 oz. club soda
2 whole cloves
1 pinch of fresh nutmeg
1 oz. lemon juice
2 oz. apple juice
Toasted pumpkin seeds (optional)
Dissolve the sugar cubes in 1 oz. of club soda (this generally involves muddling to help process). Muddle the cloves with the sugar cubes. After the sugar cubes and cloves are muddled/dissolved, add the rest of the ingredients one at a time and stir as added. Add ice once all of the ingredients have been added and stirred. Stir the punch until it is chilled
Strain the punch into a glass, punch bowl, or carved out pumpkin depending on the size of the portion, top with 2oz. club soda and garnish with apple slices, cinnamon sticks and pumpkin seeds.
Our friend Hal at A Muddled Thought was playing around with some Absinthe to come up with a Autumn Cocktail. He came up with this concoction of Lucid Absinthe, Cruzan Rum, a touch of Vanilla, a dash of Orange bitters and Orange Soda, it is sure to be come an instant classic.
The Green Crush
1 oz Lucid Absinthe
1 ¼ oz Cruzan Rum
¾ Vanilla Syrup
½ oz Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice
2 Dashes Regan Orange Bitters
Orange Soda
Shake with Ice
Serve in Highball filled with Crushed Ice. Top with Orange Soda (Either Fanta or Orange Crush)
Garnish with Orange Wedge
We had the pleasure to attended the recent Manhattan Cocktail Classic, held at the Astor Center. The day we spent was amazing, arriving around noon, I was immediately greeted be an amazing bar full of fresh ingredients and rare spirits.
I chatted for a bit an then headed into a session titled “Choosing the right glassware” lead by none other than Dale de Groff. If you don’t already know, Dale is a bartending legend and responsible for championing the cocktail revolution going on today. Mr. de Groff dazzled the crowd with an amazing collection of vintage barware, each with a different purpose. As he talked about the different glasses, Dale told us a history of their evolution. Then things got fun, we started making cocktails! Taking volunteers from the audience, we made 1/2 a dozen cocktails using a variety of glasses. Yours truly had the honor of making a Coffee Cocktail for the class. Think there is coffee in this one, guess again, this coffee cocktail is made from port, cognac, Simple syrup and an egg with a bit of nutmeg on top. Shaken well the egg gives it a bit of foam and the drink taste like, you guessed it, coffee. After several more cocktails were made the whole class was treated to Dale’s famous Irish Coffee.
Next, I was off to “The History of the Cocktail in New York City” with Professor Dave Wondrich. We were all taken back to the origin of the cocktail in the Hudson Valley and through it’s evolution in New York Cities greatest Hotels and Bars. From the famed City Hotel of the early 1800s to and all the way through prohibition, Professor Wondrich wove the tale of what was always the hotbed of cocktail innovation, NYC. We were also treated to some vintage cocktails to help us channel the past.
After a bit more schmoozing and cocktails at the Astor Center Bar (and a short nap), I was ready for the closing gala. It was held in the main hall of the New York Public Library on 5th Avenue. All I can say is WOW! This event did the room proud. Attended by over 1000 guests, the night featured a big band, great food and of course, cocktails poured by some of Americas best mixologists. James and Estaban from DonQ are pictured below mixing up a wonderfully fruity rum concoction.
This just being the preview, I can’t wait until the full event in May 14 -18, 2010.
Manhattan Cocktail Classic
The holidays are time for gatherings and warmth … and a little booze. This spiced punch can be served hot or cold. It’s a tasty way to welcome guests and stay warm.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=e80c582e-d51e-4deb-8e1b-0b4bfc4f143d)
Hot Apple Cider![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=df99e636-9995-4762-8855-1e1965d33eae)
It’s almost Halloween, so bring out the pumpkin cocktails! This one uses cachaca–a spirit similar to rum made from cane sugar.
The Green Crush![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=1a90dab6-425b-4c1e-a3da-871e7328e7e5)
I chatted for a bit an then headed into a session titled “Choosing the right glassware” lead by none other than Dale de Groff. If you don’t already know, Dale is a bartending legend and responsible for championing the cocktail revolution going on today. Mr. de Groff dazzled the crowd with an amazing collection of vintage barware, each with a different purpose. As he talked about the different glasses, Dale told us a history of their evolution. Then things got fun, we started making cocktails! Taking volunteers from the audience, we made 1/2 a dozen cocktails using a variety of glasses. Yours truly had the honor of making a Coffee Cocktail for the class. Think there is coffee in this one, guess again, this coffee cocktail is made from port, cognac, Simple syrup and an egg with a bit of nutmeg on top. Shaken well the egg gives it a bit of foam and the drink taste like, you guessed it, coffee. After several more cocktails were made the whole class was treated to Dale’s famous Irish Coffee. 
Next, I was off to “The History of the Cocktail in New York City” with Professor Dave Wondrich. We were all taken back to the origin of the cocktail in the Hudson Valley and through it’s evolution in New York Cities greatest Hotels and Bars. From the famed City Hotel of the early 1800s to and all the way through prohibition, Professor Wondrich wove the tale of what was always the hotbed of cocktail innovation, NYC. We were also treated to some vintage cocktails to help us channel the past. 
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=875a1b70-d654-45d1-8e64-21f01a3a57e9)
